MOVIE MANNERS
This chapter does not deal so much with how to act in a picture as how
to act in a studio.
Motion picture people live, more or less, in a world of their own. It is
a world which may seem a bit topsy turvy to the outsider, with its own
peculiar customs, and a greater freedom from restraint than is customary
in the conventional world outside. Examined a bit closer, these
outlandish ideas appear to be the very same ones which are always
associated with artists--a bohemian spirit which is the same whether in
Hollywood or the Latin Quarter of Paris.
If the newcomer to the studio wishes to establish himself as a bona fide
member of the movie world he must always remember that no matter how
cynical they may seem, no matter how pessimistically they may talk,
these people, in the bottom of their hearts, consider a photoplay a form
of art and themselves as artists. The actor or director or author who
does really good work, who has something new to offer, or who at least
is sincere in his desire to do something big and fine in the motion
pictures, will always be tolerated no matter how bizarre his character
in other respects. In short, people are ranked according to their
artistic understanding rather than according to their ancestry, their
bank account or their morals. Most of the leaders of the motion picture
world have risen from poverty and obscurity, a fact which accounts for
the democracy which prevails in the studio.
There are a few rules which beginners would do well to follow. Here they
are:
Be modest. Because you don't understand why something is done, don't
believe it is all nonsense. And remember that you have ever so much to
learn about the business.
Don't criticize.
Try your best to please everyone, particularly the director, whose
shoulders are carrying the responsibility for the whole production and
whose manner may be a bit gruff--as it usually is when a man is laboring
under a heavy load.
Don't be ashamed of being in the movies. If you think movies are a
low-brow form of making a living your associates will surely become
aware of your state of mind and you will be quietly frozen out.
In the old days of the movies social status in the studio was determined
by a curious system, based upon the pay envelope. Actors--for the movie
world is composed for the greater part of actors--are classed as stars,
the "leads," the "parts," the "bits," the "extras" and "mobs." The star
is, of course, the highly paid actor or actress who is the feature of
the production; the "lead" is the leading man or woman who plays
opposite the star; the "parts" include all those characters which appear
on the program--the minor characters of the play; the "bits" are those
who are called on to perform a bit of individual action, such as the
butler who opens the door, or the chauffeur who drives the car, but who
have no real part in the play; the extras are simply members of the
crowd, as the ballroom throng, while a mob is just a mass of people,
like an army or the audience at a football game.
The large producing companies frequently give elaborate dinners, seating
three or four hundred people, and under this ridiculous old system the
star sat at the head of the table, with the "leads" near at hand. Then
came the "parts," then the "bits," and finally, away down at the foot of
the table, were the "extras." In the same way directors, assistant
directors, studio managers, and so forth, were graded down according to
how much money they drew from the cashier every week.
To-day all this snobbery has passed away. The movie world has its smart
set and its slums, as in any other world, but the criterion is artistic
worth, not money. We know of one rather unpleasant personality who has
risen to stardom, but is completely ignored by the lesser lights of the
profession despite this star's attempts to break into "film society."